7-year-old becomes youngest girl to climb Mount Kilimanjaro

A 7-year-old girl has become the youngest girl ever to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, a task she has done in honor of her late father.

Montannah Kenney very tragically lost her father just one week after her third birthday. The story broke relatively quietly, only after the fact was discovered on a website called Climb Mount Kilimanjaro which notes the people who have successfully climbed the mountain.

Kenney, a native of Austin, Texas, whose mother is Hollie Kenney, a former professional triathlete, both completed the 19,341-foot mountain climb on March 16th. It is reported that ‘only two-thirds of 25,000 people who attempt the climb each year succeed‘.

‘The higher I go, the closer I am to him in heaven.‘

As noted in USA Today, ‘Two other 7-year-olds have summited Kilimanjaro: Keats Boyd and Cash Callahan, according to the website. Keats, the website said, was the first but it’s unknown if he’s older or younger than Montannah. Cash, meanwhile, was a month younger than her when he reached the summit.’

When Montannah first asked her mother if she could come on the climb, she was apprehensive. “She said to me, “Mommy I want to do it too,”‘ Hollie told ABC News. ‘I didn’t discount what she said but I knew she didn’t know the magnitude so we started researching it and looking at videos.”

The decision to bring Montannah along has resulted in both a record and a beautiful tribute to her father.

Colin J McCracken is a content designer, editor and writer from Ireland. Giving form and function to the My Good Planet vision, it has been his role to design and develop the online platform, content and presence of the project.